Carol Horsley

Hear our humble prayer, O Creator, for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,
and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

Mother Earth hear your child, As I sit here on your lap of grass,
I listen to the echoes of your voice In my brother, the Wind,
As he blows from all corners and directions.

The soft and gentle raindrops are the Tears you cry for your children
Teach me the Lessons you offer: To nurture my children, as you nurture yours,
To learn the Lessons of the Four Kingdoms, that make up this World of Physical Things, and To Learn to Walk the Path chosen so long ago.

Mother Earth, hear your child, Be a bond between the Worlds of Earth and Spirit.
Let the Winds echo the Knowledge of the Grandfathers.
Who await, unseen, yet visible if I only turn my eyes to their World.
Let me hear their Voices, in the Winds that Blow to the East.

From the East: I seek the Lessons of Childhood:
To see with the trusting innocence of a small one,
The Lessons of Spirit, Given in Love by our Creator.

From the South: to Learn the Ways of Questioning:
The Fire and Independence of adolescence,
The Truths, and how they help us Grow along this Path.

From the West: where the Grandfathers teach us Acceptance of Responsibility
That come during the years of Marriage and Family.
That my own children grow Strong, and True.

From the North: where the Elders, who by their long lives
Have learned and stored Wisdom and Knowledge.
And Learned to Walk in Balance and Harmony with our Mother, the Earth.

Mother Earth, hear your child. Hold my hand as I Walk my Path in this World.
Guide me to the Lessons I seek, bring me closer to Our Creator,
Until I return to the Western Direction, to once again Enter the World of Spirit,
Where the Sacred Fire Awaits, and I rejoin the Council of the Elders,
In the Presence of the One Who-Created-All.

Greetings from Leo Lichter Falke.